Thursday, January 15, 2009

Mini-movie reviews (#8)

Pineapple ExpressDirected by David Gordon GreenStarring Seth Rogen, James Franco, and Danny McBrideReleased in 2008Good: Rogen and Franco make an excellent team, and Franco plays what is perhaps one of the best drug-dealing movie characters in history. This movie only gets better after repeat watchings (I originally gave it a 6/10, then re-watched it). The "Rancor" joke at the end was fucking golden, too.Bad: There were a few moments in which the movie was clearly catering to a stoned audience, which sort of bothered me for some reason. Maybe I'm just being a dick.Rating: 8/10

Step BrothersDirected by Adam McKayStarring Will Ferrell and John C. ReillyReleased in 2008Good: It had its moments, most notably the "Boats N' Hoes" music video and a few minor jokes here and there.Bad: It was just another throwaway "dumb comedy" from Will Ferrell. When will he and John C. Reilly start doing impressively funny and smart movies like Stranger Than Fiction and The Promotion (respectively) together?Rating: 5.5/10

The WacknessDirected by Jonathan LevineStarring Josh Peck, Olivia Thirlby, Ben Kingsley, Famke Janssen, Method Man, and Mary Kate OlsenReleased in 2008Good: Peck has grown up considerably, and become one of the best up-and-coming actors out there with this role. Basically, he plays a weed dealer so well that I wondered if there was any method acting involved.Bad: Some parts dragged on, and there were tons of things from modern-day that snuck their way into the movie.Rating: 9/10

Released in 2006Good: The comedians are funny. Sebastian Maniscalo has been one of my favorites since I saw his Comedy Central standup bit a few months back. It was interesting to see how he came to be the comedian he is today.Bad: John Caparulo was funny, but sounded and performed like Larry the Cable Guy lite. There wasn't enough of the standup bits either.